Narendra Modi's repeat landslide victory in Gujarat against the spectacular odds stacked against him - anti-incumbency, the odious hangover of the 2002 riots, an unforgiving Muslim minority, BJP spoilers and a hostile media - has exposed the fragility and speciousness of secular politics practised in the country by those who are quick to seize on the secularism mantra as the sole rallying point

By shipping Nasreen out, the West Bengal government seems to be giving into the demands of Muslims, but it has chosen to act on an issue that has no socio-economic relevance to a majority of them. This appeases known anti-Muslim parties more than the average Muslim individual, as it gives them more ammunition to target Muslims with. It might also please those Muslim leaders and organizations that have been campaigning against Nasreen for their own ulterior motives. These Muslim leaders can now claim victory and be on the lookout for another symbolic issue to add another feather in their cap

The other hypocrisy that comes out very clearly from this episode is while the Sangh Privar and others welcome Taslima Nasrin, a foreigner with open arms to live any where in India, they have booted out MF Hussein, the living Picasso of India from his own country. It seems the ninety-year- old living legend is heading to become another Bahadur Shah Zafar who may bemoan for not getting two meters of land for his burial in his own motherland

While nobody can deny the role of jihadi terrorists belonging to the likes of Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammad in many such bloody and inhuman incidents, one feels pertrubed over the mono-chromatic presentation of such a complex phenomenon where green tends to dominate the rest. The conspiracy of silence over the phenomenon of what is known in popular parlance as 'Hindutva terrorism' needs to be questioned and confronted. ...The fanatics who spread violence in the name of religion are worse than terrorists and more dangerous than an alien enemy

In a critique of "The Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005", Colin Gonsalves opines that the Act simply relegates victims to a footnote. For instance, when it comes to sexual violence, it does not recognise the fact that the nature of atrocities committed against women during riots is radically different from those committed during 'normal' times

The reaction to the attack on Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad, where she came for release of Telugu version of her book Lajja, (9th August 2007), led by three MLAs of MIM party of Owaisi came as a jolt to the liberal human values, to the values which Koran preaches and to the democratic liberal values which we cherish

We seem to be heading for two sets of justice system as a whole. The ones belonging to minority community, suffer maximum in the communal carnage. They get killed, their properties are destroyed. The guilty in these cases are generally not punished. Those aiding and abetting these crimes get away with it and sometimes even promoted

A report prepared by one of the national secretaries of the BJP Mr Prabhat Jha analysing the election results to UP, provide enough proof of the pathetic situation in which the party itself finds today. This report would be presented before the national executive meeting of the BJP to be held in last week of June and much fireworks are expected there

As far as the gross violations and that too the one's related to minority community are concerned, Gujarat is the worst state without any shadow of doubt. In other BJP ruled states like MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarhg also, the violations are of severe degree, still they do not match with the ones in Gujarat

For the truth to be unraveled, there needs to be a thorough and impartial CBI Inquiry which examines all possible theories and marshals thorough evidence to prove the guilt of the accused. For we must know the truth to be able to stop bomb blasts

The scattered attacks on the Christian missionaries working in remote places of India speaks a lot about the nature of the political formation carrying out these attacks, their agenda of regarding Muslims and Christians as internal threat to Nation explains the current politics which is far from the one which should be seen in a civil society!

Cultural censorship is rapidly gathering steam in India. A drawing student was recently picked up from an arts college in Baroda and thrown into prison because religious zealots raided the campus and objected to his painting of Hindu gods and goddesses

In a democracy it is a difficult choice to ban/derecognize parties or organizations. What does one do with the organizations which pay lip service to democracy but are tied to apron strings of those organizations which stand opposed to democracy and Indian constitution? It is no secret that RSS chief just six years ago called for scrapping of Indian constitution and bringing in one based in India holy books. It is no secret that RSS combine is working for Hindu Nation. By implication though BJP takes oath for preserving Indian constitution, it has no qualms in violating the same when the time comes

It is high time that the Election Commission of India should take serious note of the anti-national utterances of the BJP president and initiate proceedings for the de-recognition of the BJP. It is unfortunate that none of the organs of the Indian Democratic-Secular State has so far bothered to challenge BJP and its president on this account

Allahabad High Court ruling (April 2007) that Muslims have ceased to be a minority in UP as their percentage in population is 18.5% totally defies the logic of Indian Constitution, the legislatures understanding and the pronouncements of the Supreme court on the issue

It does not need lot of wisdom to comprehend how things may unfold in the near future. A ascendant Hindutva brigade, a lacklustre Congress and the absence of a strong people's movement to unite people cutting across communities and castes, it would not come as a surprise if the situation deteriorates further

Ram temple issue became the symbol of assertion of affluent Hindutva politics in opposition to the democratic values. Identity, especially religious one, came up in a big way and waylaid the real issues of the poor and struggling majority of Hindus as well as other sections of society

There are very few moments in the house where one comes across instances where a tragicomedy unfolds itself. The zero hour in the Parliament on Monday (12 th March 2007) witnessed one such occasion when a MP of the BJP Yogi Adityanath broke down, and MPs from either side of the ruling dispensation rushed to console him and asked the chair to look at his 'grievances'

Its time Central government intervenes, and inquiry of all the terror incidents in Maharashtra is handed over to CBI or preferably to the committee headed by a judge of impeccable credentials. Are Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh listening?

The Hindu Mahasabha-BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, makes no attempt to mask his intentions with civilities and double-talk. He calls upon the majority community to recognize Muslims as the enemy and to utilize every opportunity to attack them. He has created his own organization, the Hindu Yuva Vahini, which has branches in almost every village, small town and district headquarter of Eastern UP

Whatever may be the ideas of every justice loving person about the anti-human core of Golwalkar, his continued valorization in the Sangh circles reminds one of a Sanskrit proverb : Nirastapadapedeshe Erandopi Drumayate! (In a treeless country even castor counts for a big tree!)

Religions have to raise the issues of human rights of all people of the World. It is this alliance which will ensure that the focus of world policies has to be brought back to the issue of Human rights of weaker sections of society. Nothing short of a genuine dialogue amongst people of different faiths can overcome the obstacles created by the political forces misusing the religious identity for their political goals

I am sorry to write that by participating in the birth centenary programme of M. S. Golwalkar (Guruji), the ideologue of the RSS, in Nagpur on January 20, 2007, you have not only violated the trust which this country has put in you but also saddened large sections of your fans who love and adore you because you and your team represent a Secular-Democratic India

BJP's manifesto for Uttarakhand reflects the bankruptcy of its ideology. That Sanskrit will be the state language and the government would pass anti conversion laws shows that BJP has not learnt the methods of governance at all. It also shows how the saffron party does not talk of governance but only hate formula to win an election

If Congress Party and its leaders would never be able to absolve themselves from their complicity in the carnage of Sikhs in 1984, the name of RSS and its affiliated organizations would ever remain itched in the public psyche for the crimes, which were committed against innocent citizenry in the year 2002 in Gujarat

A key feature of the Hindutva experiment furthered by Yogi Adityanath is to always keep Muslims in focus and win over the dalits and backwards to his side. In order to organise the Dalits against the Muslims he has made it a policy to interfere in all small or big quarrels between them and endeavour to paint it in communal black

This was comparatively an year with few riots. In fact post-Gujarat India has witnessed fewer riots. Gujarat was indeed another watershed like the one after post-Babri riots. It has been witnessed that after some major riot, subsequent years witness smaller and fewer riots

The optimism for the future of democratic values lies in the rising resistance to the assertions of sectarianism, amongst a section of people who are becoming more aware of the threat posed by the communal fascism. Various secular action groups, peace activists and minority rights groups are making their presence felt through their campaigns and deliberations